One year after Mao’s agreement with NRM

One year after some leaders of the opposition Democratic Party (DP) signed a cooperation agreement with the ruling National Resistance Movement on July 20, 2022, officials on both sides see some signs of progress. 

At the weekend, President Museveni wrote to the DP president general, Mr Norbert Mao, expressing optimism that cooperation between the Opposition and NRM will unite all Ugandans. 

PICTORIAL: Minister Norbert Mao's homecoming fete

Mr Mao, who was appointed Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister upon signing the agreement, hosted a grand rally in his home district of Gulu over the weekend, describing the function as a homecoming event at which he also placed a meeting of minds amongst political actors at the centre of his agenda. 

He joined the government amid stiff opposition from a DP faction whose members bitterly complained that party organs were not consulted. This faction denounced the agreement as a personal affair between Mr Mao and President Museveni which is not binding on other party members.

However, DP secretary general, Mr Gerald Siranda, stood by his party leader, having enjoyed the benefits of cooperation with NRM when his bid to become one of Uganda’s representatives at the East African parliament was backed by the ruling party.  

Mr Siranda said the first year has been for settling in office but also noted that some gains have been made. 
“When you want to build a house, you first think about the material you’re going to use… We went into an office (the Justice ministry) that was not occupied by anybody for a year, you need the leaders to settle in,” he said. 

“Two; there is the issue of increasing the number of judicial officers that are working. The minister (Mr Mao) moved a motion after persuading the Cabinet to increase the number by an additional 180 judges,” he said.

Justice
Mr Siranda added that during the one year, several people have regained their freedom after terms were set to make sure that they receive timely justice. 

“The ones you may call prisoners of war; you may only know a few people that our colleagues in other political parties keep lamenting about but there are several people, including key figures in the eyes of the public that we don’t want to come out and mention”.  

He said preparations for the constitutional review are now underway where they will look at national unity and the question of transition.

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According to the cooperation agreement, another DP leader was to be appointed to a junior ministerial position, but this is yet to happen, but Mr Siranda said it is too early to judge that. 

“You wait for the next reshuffle then we shall be engaging on that subject; whether the cooperation has been broken or not,” he said. 

The DP was supposed to propose four individuals for appointment to departments, statutory bodies, and government agencies under the terms of the agreement. 

Mr Siranda said there is movement on that front at the Uganda Human Rights Commission and Uganda Registration Services Bureau, among other entities.  The director for communications at the NRM party, Mr Emmanuel Dombo, was cautious in his assessment. 

Mr Dombo acknowledged that Mr Mao promised to push through many reforms which could still be under review in government, but said there is definite movement on law-and-order issues. 

“[He championed] the alternative dispute resolution mechanism; he gave it a good push, this is something if formally adopted will enable [access to timely justice],” Mr Dombo said.

Fighting on
But in a telephone interview with Monitor, Mityana County South MP Richard Lumu – one of those opposed to the agreement -- said their struggle continues on “how to recover the party from those who run away with it to the NRM without the authority of its owners and the party organs”. 

“We have been laying a strategy, and on Friday, we addressed a presser at Parliament. We clearly put our position before the public. On Saturday, we had a prayer to ask God to direct the party; to direct the leaders, including MPs and owners of the party to see which direction we are going to take,” he said. 

Mr Lumu said in the meantime, consultations with former DP leaders, including the notable senior constitutional lawyer, Prof Fredrick Ssempebwa, and Mr Francis Bwengye, continues.

To this, Mr Siranda said they will continue to deal with those against the agreement as an internal matter.